The Beat of a Butterfly's Wings
by PartnersInGreatness
Summary: It's amazing, how one thing could create all this. A single flutter, a single beat. Now I stand before armies just like how they stand in the way of peace. In the way of true salvation.
1. Chapter 1

Speech – In quotation marks, e.g. "Hello"  
Thoughts – In italic type, e.g. '_Dat ass'_  
Short flashbacks – In italic type also but in a separate paragraph  
Long flashbacks – These are marked at the beginning and end of the paragraph with this symbol: §  
Other: For Naruto fanfics, jutsu/summons/demons will be marked in bold type, e.g. **NINGEN U WILL BURN**

* * *

Chapter One

"It's amazing, how one thing could create all this. A single flutter, a single beat. Now I stand before armies just like how they stand in the way of peace. In the way of true salvation." Eyes the colour of lilac, infused with the frozen metallic poison of mercury. Black concentric rings decorating their surface, in a hypnotising ripple, the centre of which ending in a pitch black pupil, that seemed to draw in everything, seeing all secrets that might be hidden. His hair was now a little past shoulder and the colour of blood. It was a beautiful, deep burgundy; the signature colour of Uzumaki. The deep crimson threads now danced along a calm and quiet breeze. **"Ningen, it is almost time."** A deep growling voice spoke, breaking the figures concentration. **"Now we begin the final stage."** Red, slit eyes now glowed in a pitch black forest.

The figure paused. "Yes, after many years I now understand what you meant." A ghost of a smirk growing on his face, "Now the trap is set, only the waiting game is left." the figure continued.

"_**Ningen you will soon learn that your race has been doomed for many centuries, peace can only happen when a new world is made!"**__ The great maw of the beast parted revealing its vulpine teeth.__** "If you want peace, you will need to create a new world."**_

"_You are wrong, I will make peace on this world, no matter what" The small child rose from the sewer water. "And I will not do it by killing!"_

"What a naïve child I was."

* * *

"Hurry sensei we're almost there, just a few more metres and we will be in position."

Looking up at his only current student, his eyes held a subtle sadness. "Hai Sakura, remember, when Hokage-sama gives the signal we take our place in the front lines. We have to be ready," a saddened look suddenly reached his face. "More now than ever since Naruto is missing."

Sakura flinched at the sound of the name "Kakashi-sensei, I.. it was no ones fault, he just disappeared." Her voiced cracked slightly. "It was Pein. After he went to confront him he just never came back." An angry look spreading across her features as the name Pein was hissed out.

"Sakura." The lone eye of the shinobi glanced at the pink haired kunoichi._ 'She needs to get rid of the guilt she feels, but I can't blame her. I know what's it's like to lose two teammates...like master like student then.'_ The statement being more true than he would ever know.

"I'm fine Kakashi-sensei." Then for a fraction of a moment there was a look of pure determination carved into her face, her jade eyes hardening. "We will win this shinobi war. We will defeat that masked man, whoever he is. We will do this for Naruto... even if it's in his memory we will win."

To her right a beautiful woman's fist tightened. Her milky lavender orbs watching and reading her pink haired comrades lips. _'Naruto kun is not dead, he won't die until he completes his dream. He will never give up, that's his nindo, OUR ninja way. And if you haven't realised that, you are not deserving to be called his friend, his teammate or one of his precious people._' The indigo hair on her head blowing out as she leapt from branch to branch. "I will find you Naruto kun, I will not give up."

* * *

"Kazekage-sama all our forces are in position."

The burgundy hair of the leader of the Sand, was blowing in the wind. "Move them out, we will meet with the forces of the Leaf, then we will commence this war." His teal pools stayed opened, scanning the scenery and analysing his many options and any choices he could make. Turning around to his commander, the insomnia created markings, sitting vibrantly on his face due to morning sun. "Go get my sister, she will lead her own division."

"Hai sir." Says the shinobi, before vanishing.

Turning back to the grassing plain. "Naruto," the word escaping his lips, '_my brother, I hope your plan will work, it is true that the world needs peace, and we are the best chance for that to happen_.' A breathless sigh escaping his mouth as he closes his eyes. "Now the next stage begins."

* * *

"Soon Konoha will get what it deserves." A voice said from the top of a mountain. Two spheres of solid coal burned in the new dawns light. "I will see that village destroyed for what they did, they killed my family one of the founding families of that village." Anger rising with each word.

"They will fear the name Uchiha again." Eyes now closed as the cloud passed over him. "This will be my vengeance, my brothers revenge on the village through me, and Naruto... Naruto this time I will be victorious, because I always was and will always be more special than you."

Eyes snapping open as his voice ended it's speech. "My brother will be avenged, and no one will stand in my way." A burning crimson glowed through the light of dawn. Intricate sequences of triangles sitting at top a pitch void, forming a blood star with a small black shuriken shape right in the centre, three lines coming from the edge of the pupil forming it.

Leaping further down the mountain, before slowing down to a slight run, eyes looking directly at a flat plain. "Now I can re-teach this world why they feared the sharingan, why they feared the name Uchiha."

* * *

"SILENCE." The word leaving the Raikage's mouth swiftly and weighed down with authority. "How do you expect we get anything done if everyone keeps babbling on." turning to address the Kazekage he sits down. "And you boy, what do you suggest we do?"

Getting up to talk to the masses of shinobi gathered for war, a semi-emotionless sigh escapes his lips. "We stand here all today so that we, can fight. Not for our individual nations," taking a small breath before continuing. "but for all of us, everyone no matter what nation we will fight together, ninja, samurai, Kages and alike. We must all work together, forget all animosity we have had towards each other, now we will fight, as one nation, against one common enemy."

A chorus of chanting rose from the mouths of the people, igniting a fire in the hearts of thousands.

"We must shed our own banners," Taking a Sand headband as he said this. "and be united under one." Sand coiling around the steel of the band, staying for a few moments until falling away. The engraving now showing a number one. "The new headbands show what squadron you belong to, and who will be the leaders of your allocated squad."

Time went by slowly as the different headbands were given out, then to manoeuvre the fighters into positions took quite a while. However being a Kage had given him a great deal of patience, along with his past insomnia, he had quite a good grasp on keeping calm. The Raikage however had little patience. It was probably why his troops were the first set up and ready to go. The same with the Mizukage, although with her it could be from the fear of her melting or boiling the troops that didn't listen. _'Like how people were when I first took the hat... might be the hair.'_

After the Rock and Leaf were finished, everything was ready for the war with the masked man.

* * *

All the forces of the shinobi nation were ready, all in position, all waiting. "Tsunade-sama, how long do we have left?" Asked one of the Anbu captains, face hidden by a mask of a falcon.

"Ten minutes Falcon." She replied while looking deep onto the top of a rock platform. "Then minutes before the forth shinobi war begins." Sighing she turns her back to the platform. "This is the calm before the storm, the endless waiting before the lightning cracks the heavens, but now we must fight."

"Hokage-sama, I never thought we would be in another war so soon."

"I had hoped I never would have to be captain." Her voice quiet barely a whisper. The silence she received was indication enough that she had been heard. "Now I only hope to get out of this alive, along with many of my shinobi alongside me."

* * *

Seven minutes left. Only a calm stillness remained in the grassy field.

Six minutes left. Now the fear had sunk in, many would most likely die. Families destroyed, friendships cut down.

Five minutes left. There was a sombre feeling among the troops, there was nothing to stop this now. That masked man had started a war, they would finish it. Losses were now a given. Scars? An afterthought. A fight, now a promise. Death ... death now a close friend.

"You all know that facing away from where your enemy is coming from is a really bad strategy."

Instantly everyone turned to face behind them, expecting to find the masked man. However in his place sat a young man, legs dangling on the side of the raised cliff. Crimson locks floating a fair amount due to the breeze. Eyes adorned with a strange ripple grafted onto deep lavender pools. The eyes of the one who had destroyed Konoha. The leader of the Akatsuki, Pein. The myth of its existence was shattered in Konoha, any doubt the other nations had, now was like Konoha, a wide crater.

"Also Uchiha, stop trying to hide." The person said while standing up. "It's quite embarrassing watching you try to keep still." His cloak now now unfolded due to his wore a white full-length haori with a high collar, revealing his necklace with six red magatama.

Rising from the ground like the snake he is, Sasuke looked murderous.

The man pushed the hair away from his face, revealing to all six identically markings on his face three on each side, a small smirk ripped across his face revealing some sharper than normal canine teeth. The way his face looked like was so fox like. So Naruto...

Across the people there were many reactions however the figure only found some important. Looking across the rows he spotted a pair of jade eyes. Reading her lips revealed she saw whispering "No it can't be, Naruto that can't be you, our village's hero."

_"You're such a loser Naruto, Can't you take anything serious?"_

_"How will you ever be Hokage if you don't even know what chakra is?"_

_"Why would I ever go out with YOU, you can't do anything right."_

Scanning the rows further he spotted the Hyuga girl, a genuine smile broke on his face.

_"N...N..Naruto-k..kun here I made you some salve f..f..for the exa..exam." Her cute face having a kind soft smile._

_" Y..you can do it I bel..believe in you"_

_"Because I love you Naruto Uzumaki."_

_"That's my nindo..my ninja way."_

His rings connected with the two red stars.

_"You're such a loser, baka."_

_"In the end I'll always be better than you."_

_"You won't even scratch my forehead protector." A loud clang as a hand in a claw strike ripped it off as the instant the sentence finished._

_"I'll always be more special than you."_

_"CHIDORI" - "RASENGAN"_

_"Because Sasuke I am better than you, the rasengan is stronger that the chidori, the lightning blade too."_

_"You won't like going in my head."_

_"Because Sasuke I'm more special than you." A forward incased in steel, hit the raven haired boy in the nose._

_"I'm just better than you, and for peace it's better you die, the poison is already working. I'm sorry."_

Eyes snapping back into place as he looked into the crowd. They all looked into the eyes, until they were all staring at the central black pit. No one moved, no one took a breath. Then like the beat of a butterfly's wings his eyelids began to close. Until they were freed by the blink being half finished, his eyes closed.


	2. Chapter 2

Speech – In quotation marks, e.g. "Hello" Thoughts – In italic type, e.g. '_Dat ass'_ Short flashbacks – In italic type also but in a separate paragraph Long flashbacks – These are marked at the beginning and end of the paragraph with this symbol: §

Other: For Naruto fanfics, jutsu/summons/demons will be marked in bold type, e.g. **NINGEN U WILL BURN****_**

* * *

Chapter 2

Eyes snapping open, revealing an ocean of rebellion, hope and mystery. They focused on his now incredibly pissed off sensei.

"You guys lack concentration! How can you expect to become excellent ninjas at this rate?" Yelled a very angry, and slightly bigger than average head, Iruka. "This is the second time this week I have had to keep you four in, and the fourth time for you Naruto!" His voice was softened when he looked apron the young blond boy.

"Sensei, please keep your lecture short." Complained Shikamaru, hair now wet and out of its normal spiked up ponytail. "It's such a drag having to stay after anyway, you could at least not make more annoying." His voice was flat, tiered in a way. "How troublesome." He sighed out while ringing his hair out.

Iruka looked over to him. "Well Shikamaru how troublesome is it that now, that there is a group of students now have pink clothes, feathers, honey AND got doused by over three gallons of ice water," Taking a calming breath he continued. "now have to stay home for a week to get over their hypothermia?" The boys knowing best not to answer.

His eyes finally focused on all the boys, Shikamaru was still ringing out his hair, having finally gotten rid of the majority of the water. Naruto however was relatively dry, probably due to the thick orange jumpsuit he had taken to wearing last week, however his hair was still damp leaving it dropped over his face. Kiba was the driest out of the four, his head having lost the hood from the jacket that kept him water free during the prank. Choji, sadly had suffered the worst of the pranks backlash, soaked to the bone, and with his hair still dripping water droplets on the floor, probably due to nothing holding it up, his smile however seemed to outshine even Naruto's.

Shaking his head slightly, Iruka continued. "Not to mention, how one girl got hit precisely by two paint balloons on two areas of her chest. Do you boys have any idea what that means?"

"Yeah," Replied the spiky brown haired boy, his mouth forming into a smirk. "It means Naruto has some amazing aim to his targets that small." His resolve holding slightly as he stiffened his laughter. Naruto held his hand to his side, Kiba help his out too, a second later a soft clap sound was heard.

A sigh escaped his lips. '_Ok, walked right into that one didn't I? Still I know why Kiba knows about things of that nature, his clan teaches all children about breeding dogs, and humans too apparently. Naruto isn't in the Inuzuka clan and he's only ten. Then again knowing where he lives he probably knows a lot more than he lets on.' _Leaving that though alone, he walked closer to the boys. "Now I have already punished you enough, making you come in tomorrow during your weekend to clean this mess is harsh, also making you write letters of apologies to everyone is quite enough. However I will also be telling your parents. Naruto I'll be telling lord Hokage about this for you." The fear on the look of all three said all he needed to know

Iruka then placed a leaf onto each of their foreheads, right in the centre. The boys all looked up wide-eyed and were suddenly aware as he chuckled.

"What you are going to do is what generations of Konoha ninjas have done to practice and hone their concentration skill. The exercise is to concentrate all your energy on that leaf it is an old tradition, to concentrate on just the leaf so that your mind does not get distracted. Only those who have worked hard on their concentration can become excellent ninjas. The Konoha emblem on the forehead protectors stem from that tradition. Then again I already told you four this two years ago." A small smile grew on his face.

"That sounds fake." Naruto said as he blew the leaf off of his forehead. "Then again I already told you that two years ago." Iruka rolled his eyes at that. "Naruto you need to learn to concentrate how else will you be able to become Hokage." Placing the leaf the on his head, Iruka walked to his desk. "Ok boys now just keep the leaves on your heads, for around" Stopping to look at the clock. "eight minutes than you can go."

Time seemed to crawl by slowly, three minutes felt like an hour. Five minutes felt like an afternoon. '_Ehh I can't take this anymore common there has to be a way out,' _Looking around slightly, Naruto spotted their portal to freedom. '_The window, it's open yes. Now to get the others.' _Naruto began tapping his left side, quickly getting the attention of the group. Moving his head to indicate the window. Kiba look to his left. '_Wow... How didn't we see that?_' Shikamaru was already shuffling towards Naruto since he was the furthest from the window. '_Well it took one of them to finally realise the window was open, now to run away, uhh what a drag.' _Choji having seen Shikamaru move, quickly followed his example, trusting his friend to come up with a plan.

The boys finally saw an opening, the break in their sensei's concentration. Wasting no time the group charged out of the window, and they all ran off, laughing leaving their sensei bewildered and shouting at the top of his lungs after them.

Finally stopping at the park the four friends all stopped and sat down on the grass. Naruto laughed for a bit, before calming down long enough to speak. "Oh man, did you see the look on his face priceless." Snorting in more laughter he slapped Shikamaru and Choji on the back. "Wow you guys are tiered after that short run, maybe you need to train more." The glare from Shikamaru shut him up.

"Not all of us have the endless energy Naruto, even Kiba is slightly out of breath." Said Choji as he stood up slowly.

"Yeah yeah yeah, everyone says that even Jiji." Countered Naruto, who had finally sat down. "So guys what you wanna do now, we could go get some ramen?"

Kiba looked at Naruto for a second as if considering it, before a cringe covered his face. "Sorry dude can't, my mums gonna kill me, especially now that I'm late. Sorry man." Putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I gotta go," Looking over to his friends. "see you guys tomorrow." Quickly waving, he began a fast jog to his clan's compound.

Shikamaru now looked at the clouds. "Yeah Naruto me and Choji have to go too, I'm staying over at his while my dad's on a mission, we are already late, hugh what a drag."

"Nah, it's cool you guys I'll see you tomorrow." Getting up and waving goodbye to his two friends Naruto began his walk home.

As Naruto was making his way home, he began to think about how he really didn't have a home at all. Konoha was full of people who judged him and did not think that he was worth anything. He didn't feel as though he belonged. '_Someday' _he thought, '_I will change that, I'll change this place for the benefit of everyone, I'll make this whole place better.' _Going through the green forest area towards the less desirable part of the village, he desired to take the quick rout through the forest.

As he was walking through the forest he was revelling in the feeling he got from, having spent time with his friends, granted they never did this, they never really called themselves friends apart from Shikamaru and Choji. '_Still, it's nice to know we are friends even if we don't say it. We are friends aren't we?'_ The slight smirk he had weakened. "We are, at least we kinda are." A sigh escaped him. "I wish my life could just go poof and get better, I wish it could just blink my eyes and have it all just go swoosh and it all changes. I just need ... Something to point me in the right direction.

Unknown to him, whatever gods, or devils had heard his calling had decided to give him a chance to change his fate. A butterfly was now falling, its strength failing it. Its wings beating weakly, the breeze blowing it off course. With its last strength it manage stocking on to a branch, its wings however brushing past a leaf. It unhooks from the branch. The creature dies. Nature taking its course, an old life dies, and a new one begins. The leaf gently falling onto the blondes face shut him up.

"A leaf?" Taking the leaf off his forehead, gently putting it in his palm. Analysing it for a few seconds. "Yeah 'cause all I need in life is a leaf, and look at me I'm talking to myself." Taking a calming breath he put the leaf into his jackets inner pocket. "Oh man it's dark, I gotta get home... Like there's anything there for me anyway. Like there's anything really in the village for me anyway." Looking back on his path towards his home, he began the short journey home. He began his long journey towards his destiny.

* * *

YEAH CHAPTER 2

Please review and have fun joining us on this adventure.


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